“CSI: Apple” finds iPhone finder, expanding probe

People used to say Seattle was the best place in the world to have a heart attack, because of our great Medic One emergency response system.

Now we know the best place in the world to lose a phone: San Mateo County, Calif., where a coalition of police investigators is pulling out the stops to find the person who picked up a prototype phone left in a Redwood City bar.

The phone is safely back in Apple’s hands, so perhaps the manhunt’s really about hunting down and punishing the opportunist who sold it to Gizmodo.

(UPDATE: The Silicon Valley Business Journal‘s reporting that police found and interviewed him, but they haven’t charged him with anything yet. “We’re still not saying it’s a crime,” said San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the paper.)

Imagine what would have happened if someone took an Apple employee’s prized car. They’d probably activate the National Guard, with the “Terminator” leading the charge.

I wonder if “CSI: Apple” checked for DNA left on the phone and used credit card records and traffic cameras to interview everyone who was in the bar that fateful night. Perhaps they used GPS and AT&T records to triangulate the location of the opportunistic gadget enthusiast, who apparently tried the phone before Apple remotely shut it down.

The story will really get interesting if the manhunt expands to other Gizmodo contributors with a keen interest in Apple’s next phone.

Like Bill Gates, who wrote for Gizmodo last summer. As long as the police are on a fishing expedition, they should know the really big ones are on east shore of Lake Washington.

Brier Dudley offers a critical look at technology and business issues affecting the Northwest. Send tips or comments to bdudley@seattletimes.com. His column runs Monday, and his commentary appears here all week.